By BOLANLE BOLAWOLE
I was not surprised when I learnt of the pulling down of the Memorial Park or cenotaph erected at the ancient town of Ogho (Owo) by the late governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu: The cenotaph was erected in honour of the victims of the terrorist attack which took place at the St. Francis Catholic Church, Ogwaluwa (Owaluwa), Owo (Ogho) on 5 June, 2022. Apart from being a journalist who followed events before, during and after the terrorist attack, I am also from Ogho; so, I am familiar with my people’s history, culture, traditions and politics.
In Yoruba land generally, obas do not behold corpses. Thus, it is a taboo to carry corpses – or even coffins – into the palace or anywhere close to it where an oba could behold it. From 2016 to 2018 I walked closely with Ayodele Fayose during his second stint as the governor of Ekiti state; we visited many times the palace of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti and other palaces where I learnt that it is even a taboo for anyone to wear an all-black dress to the palace for Kabiyesi to behold. So, it is inappropriate to site a cemetery or anything resembling it in the vicinity of the palace where the oba would be condemned to beholding it.
I may not know the reason behind this but that is our Yoruba culture and Ogho, being Yoruba, subscribes to it. To kick against it is to commit sacrilege. It is no small thing in Yoruba land for anyone, no matter how highly placed, to step on the eyes of the earth, as they say. No one pokes his fingers in the face of the ancestors, custom and traditions and gets away with it. Any true-blooded Yoruba person knows that such a misdeamenour is a weighty offence.
But when I saw the photographs on a social media platform of caterpillars and bulldozers taking position to pull down the structure, which stood elegant and resplendent, my heart sank! And I posted this dirge: “A waste when it was built. A waste when it is being demolished. Double loss! Can’t it be remodelled and converted to something else; something more useful? ” But I addressed no one in particular! As the bulldozers tore into the structure, I noticed that no effort was being made to retrieve or salvage anything from the sprawling structure! I again posted this on another platform: “I saw that no efforts were made to salvage anything from the structure: windows, roofs, roofings, doors, etc. Maybe I am wrong! Instead of demolishing the place, it should have been dismantled, so we can make some savings…” Someone responded: “Remember, we have enough resources to waste in this part of the world!”
The Memorial Park, which itself has now become a memory, was a cenotaph of controversy as I described it right from its conception. It was a good idea but its location, as we have explained above, was mired in controversy. Why did the government insist on the chosen location and nowhere else? Why not on the grounds of the terrorist attack? I first heard of the government’s decision from a friend, Yanju Alabi, who intimated to me that his father’s house was one of the buildings earmarked for demolition, to give way for the cenotaph.
The suspicion was that Akeredolu needlessly wanted to extend the demolition that far to settle scores with the Alabis and every appeal made to him to reconsider reportedly fell on deaf ears. I found this curious for many reasons. For one, the pedigree of the Alabi’s building alone (as we shall soon see) should have been enough for any right-thinking person to spare the building the bulldozer’s treatment. For another, Yanju’s younger brother, Banji, was a friend of Akeredolu; and they were so close that the governor made him chairman of the governing council of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (formerly Owo Polytechnic) located in the town. But sources said their relationship soured over time.
I could not have Akeredolu’s own side of the story right from the horse’s mouth, as we say in this profession, but those who claimed to be familiar with the story said he felt let down by the way his friend piloted the affairs of the polytechnic, especially with loads of unpaid salary arrears. Being that the said school situates in his home town, Akeredolu was said to have been subjected to a lot of embarrassment over the matter, especially when he reportedly claimed that he gave the polytechnic more subvention than even the state university – Adekunle Ajasin University (AAU), Akungba.
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I spoke directly with Banji who said he dealt transparently and efficiently with the resources committed into his hands, but that the problem was the age of the polytechnic as opposed to a younger AAU, which meant that the bag and baggage carried by the polytechnic surpassed those of the university.
Anyway, the relationship between Akeredolu and Banji Alabi was irreparably damaged, such that many thought that the governor extended the demolition to Alabi’s ancestral home to punish his estranged friend. The Alabi family wrote letters. They contracted lawyers. They appealed. Nothing worked. The only grace Banji got from his friend was a few days’ grace to move his parents’ bones from the building before it was reduced to Ground Zero. It was at that point that Yanju contacted me.
Yanju and I had been friends since our university days beginning in the late 70s. He is the current Chancellor (President) of our social club (Owo Krown Klub). For whatever it is worth, I decided to draw public attention to what was about to happen. The very moment Akeredolu won his election on his second attempt, a group of journalists at a function at Ado-Ekiti had said Ondo State was in for a rough ride. They said Akeredolu was arrogant and self-conceited – and that his wife was worse!
I wrote this in one of my columns just to warn the in-coming governor and First Lady that they were now golden fishes who would have nowhere to hide. Many Owo sons and daughters took umbrage and called me names. Undeterred, I followed up with another testimony by another acquaintance of the Akeredolus who also had unsavoury things to say about the couple’s public relations. My motive was pure, but some close friends even threatened to report me to the palace for being anti-Ogho, in their own myopic opinion! Eventually, however, as the Akeredolus showed their true colour, I was vindicated!
So, how do I write to appeal to such a fellow not to take a predetermined course of action? Would I not be pouring petrol in a raging fire? I decided to write all the same! Afterall, the Alabis’ case was a bad one already and he that is down, as they say, need fear no fall. So I wrote what you are about to read, titled “Gov. Akeredolu’s memorial park of controversy.”
It goes thus: “Remember the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack at the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo in which 42 or more souls were brutally and dastardly terminated by terrorists? Ondo state governor, Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, is said to be putting finishing touches to plans to build a cenotaph at Owo to the memory of the victims. Great, not so, except that only Akeredolu appears to be excited about this project!
“One reason being that a cenotaph is not necessarily the people’s priority! There are still salary arrears to be paid in some sectors and workers are dying. Workers at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (transforming into a university!) in the town are owed 10 months or more in salary arrears. In this modern day, it is a shame that Owo has no pipe-borne water supply; people rely on streams, wells and boreholes.
“Moreover, one of the houses reported to have been pencilled down for demolition has historical, political and cultural values as it is the very first two-storey building built with concrete blocks in the entire Owo division (which in those days included the entirety of Akoko). It was also in that house with its unique Brazilian architecture that the Action Group titans like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief SLA Akintola, Pa Michael Adekunle Ajasin and other top-notch AG leaders were hosted when the AG was publicly inaugurated in Owo town on 28th April, 1951.
“History alone should save that building, just as the first story-building in Nigeria, located in Badagry, Lagos state, is preserved to this day as a historical monument. Save the historic building at Igboroko-Owo! Move the Memorial Park elsewhere!”
It was published in my TREASURES column on the back page of the New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday, 22 March, 2023. Surprisingly, it worked a miracle! Hours after it was published, an ecstatic Banji Alabi sent out this message: “Distinguished ladies and gentlemen: Fellow Nigerians, I just received a USD 9999 billion dollars phone call from the foremost, erudite, listening governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, who announced to me that my father’s house will now become a monument to be preserved for its historical heritage…” But Akeredolu would not move the cenotaph elsewhere! Had he, everyone would have been spared the present controversy.
Now that the cenotaph has been demolished, what of those whose property was demolished for it? What of those who had to move their parents’ bones elsewhere? Why all the trouble – only for it to amount to nothing in the end? There are many more questions begging for answers! We may have attempted what went wrong between Akeredolu and Banji Alabi but the story of what went wrong between the Olowo and the late governor is yet to be told!
Akeredolu reportedly jeered at the plea of Kabiyesi and his chiefs to take the cenotaph elsewhere. As the sitting governor when Kabiyesi ascended the throne, there was no way that could have happened without Akeredolu’s active support. So, what went wrong? Putting together the stories in the public domain, to say that Kabiyesi and Owo chiefs agreed to the controversial location of the cenotaph amounts to cheap blackmail. If the press statement purportedly issued by the Chief Press Secretary to Akeredolu is to be believed, Kabiyesi was given the option of having the cenotaph relocated to Ijebu-Owo! Why Ijebu-Owo, which is a distance from the scene of the terrorist attack? Did the terrorist attack take place there? Why not the nearby Ogwaluwa, venue of the attack?
You only need to know that the relationship between the traditional rulers of Owo and Ijebu-Owo was frosty at that point in time to understand that such a suggestion, if at all it was made, was not just cheap blackmail but divide-and-rule politics! What reportedly soured Olowo’s once boisterous relationship with Akeredolu? Like the Jamaican reggae superstar, Bob Marley, crooned, half the story has never been told! Pray, who will tell it?
To conclude: Gov. Akeredolu’s idea of erecting a cenotaph in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack was laudable, but the site of the project left much to be desired. The insistence by Owo chiefs that the cenotaph be relocated was equally proper. The decision of Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa to accede to the request was sensibly made. But it appeared to me that gaps crept into its implementation. St. Francis Catholic Church, which reportedly complained that they were not consulted, should have been carried along. The Akeredolu family, as a matter of courtesy, should also have been notified. A new location for the cenotaph should have been identified and work ought to have commenced there before undertaking the demolition. And like I said earlier, the edifice should have been carefully dismantled, not demolished.
But now that the deed has been done, measures should quickly be taken by everyone concerned to allow the souls of the departed – the victims of the terrorists’ attack as well as Akeredolu’s – to continue to rest in peace! I come in peace!
*Bolawole ([email protected] 0807 552 5533), former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of the Westerner newsmagazine. He writes the “ON THE LORD’S DAY” column in the Sunday Tribune and “TREASURES” column in the New Telegraph newspapers. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.
